The MOFAT Diamond Scandal was exposed around early January 2012, in which the ambassador of South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Kim Eun-seok, leaked an information on his illegal purchase of stocks of a mining firm called CNK International by falsifying information of a diamond reserve in Cameroon. This incident generated criticisms against the Lee Myung-bak government. The scope of the investigation later spread to other senior South Korean public officials.
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Allegations
Foreign Minister, Kim Sung-hwan, had denied any cover-up of this incident. The former vice-minister of the Ministry of Knowledge Economy and a close aide to the South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, Park Young-joon, was alleged in the involvement of the stock manipulation incident with Kim Eun-seok; later Park denies any allegation.